Český Krumlov Castle - Tour no. 2

Princess Paulina of Ahrenberg

Tour no. 2 consists of the 19th century interiors and focuses on the period when Krumlov was held by the Schwarzenbergs. The tour begins in the gallery where you can see portraits of family members who lived from the 14th century to the early 20th century. The guest rooms follow, one of which is dedicated to the Belgian Princess Paulina of Ahrenberg. The Belgian Duchess Paulina Carolina Iris of Ahrenberg and Aerschot died in a fire at a ball in Paris in 1810. When the wooden dance pavilion caught fire from overturned candles in the garden of the Austrian Embassy, Emperor Napoleon, his entourage, and the Duchess came out of the burning hall safely. But Paulina saw her daughter imprisoned among the dancers in the room, returned to her, and this was her fateful moment.

There is a nice collection of 114 engravings in the Men‘s Parlour. An interesting item is the hammer piano, still functional, from the early 19th century in the music parlour. In the other rooms you can admire the heraldic tapestries from the extensive Schwarzenberg collection of tapestries. The Marshall room is dedicated to Charles I Philip of Schwarzenberg and the victory over Napoleon in the famous Battle of Leipzig in 1810. The suite, originally inhabited by Johann Adolf II. Schwarzenberg and his wife Eleonore, still holds its original furnishings. It leads into the library which, with its collection of 55 thousand volumes, is one of the largest in the country. It is decorated with portraits of several members of the Schwarzenberg family.

The tour also passes through the small dining room into the private suites of Princess Eleonore. Her study and bedroom are decorated with many rare Dutch and Brussels tapestries. The tour finishes in the castle picture gallery which houses a collection of canvases painted by German, Italian, Flemish and Dutch masters. The gallery doors lead into the top of two corridors above the Cloak Bridge. The corridor leads to the castle garden, and its walls bear rare historical maps of European countries. The second and lower hallway leads to the Castle Theatre, which is the subject of another guided tour.